


Keeping a Foundling or Two

by Haruka28



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Torture, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:18:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22220149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haruka28/pseuds/Haruka28
Summary: "By Creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father."The only problem was that he had no idea how to accomplish either.
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Original Character(s), The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Keeping a Foundling or Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "By Creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father."
> 
> The only problem was that Din had no idea how to accomplish either

"How did my life get to this point?" Din wondered looking at the darkness of space.

The Mandalorian was very busy, with his hands on the controls of the ship, ensuring that the course of this trip was correct.Part of his mind was going over the maps and all the information he had gathered on their next whereabouts while another part was attentive to all the sounds of the ship, making sure that the little one did not get into any trouble. From the sounds he heard, the little womp rat was very busy, at the floor of the ship next to their cot, playing with the toys that he had gotten him at the last stop.

And a very small part of his mind was occupied concentrated reviewing the decisions that had brought him to this point.

Din was still surprised that so much had changed in recent months. And it had all started at the moment he had decided to save an innocent child from a group of Imps. At that moment, he had gone from being a simple bounty hunter, collecting credits to help his clan to have a little person in his care.

His own son.

_“By Creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father.”_

The words of their leader still echoed in his mind. Although a few weeks had passed from these events, he could still hear the words clearly as if a voice was whispering them constantly, remembering that his purpose in life had changed. And the presence of the child only reinforced that fact. For Din, life had been simple since he had turned seventeen and accepted the Creed. Hiding his face from the world but earning a place within a society that had taken care of him and accepted since that day where he had lost everything.

Since then his life had been a cycle. Mission, reward, mission, reward; all for the sake of his clan and his culture. And he had planned to continue until old age will come to claim him or find a warrior's death on the road. And despite its origins in the clan, he had never thought of taking a foundling under his care. Din used to think that his ability to connect with other living things and his parents had died together. He had acquaintances, contacts, allies and partners but no friends. He felt much more comfortable in the silence of space or in the company of old books. He was polite but did not use a lot of words. The armor not only protected his body but was the cage in which he had locked his heart.

Cage that broke into a thousand pieces when black eyes looked at him for the first time with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

Din was never going to be sure he had made the right decision, but he was not sorry for what he had done. In any case, he had always been the kind of person who sought solutions to problems rather than concentrating on their causes. Always looking forward, always moving forward, without looking back. In that sense, he hadn't changed at all.

Only the mission had changed.

_"By Creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father."_

The only problem was that he had no idea how to accomplish either.

Din didn't know anything about his son's original family, he had never seen anyone of his race and he had never heard of the Jedi or the Force in his life. The few contacts he had consulted in recent days had given him nothing but dire news. Jedis had disappeared in the early days of the Empire and there was none alive. He had heard rumors about how the new Republic had formed with the help of a Jedi but Din had dismissed as mere political propaganda of the new government.

That left him with the second option and he felt even more lost with her. Din could protect the infant, take care of his basic needs, provide him with things but he didn't know how to be a father. He didn't know how to sing lullabies, kiss sore knees, tell fairy tales or other things he usually saw the other parents do. He just knew weapons, how to survive in a world full of hatred and hardnesses, knew how to hurt, like killing. And he suspected that the child needed much more than learning to survive. Considering how he had found it, and how he behaved with him, the boy was hungry for love and affection. Din had lost his parents but still had the memory of his kisses and hugs. he did not know if the infant had enjoyed the same things and how to give it to him in case the answer was no.

He had not yet offered him the most precious gift he could offer ...

Din had not given him his face.

He had never taken off his helmet in the presence of the baby and had no intention of doing so. He did not feel capable. He justified himself by saying that he expected a special occasion, something that merited the gift but deep down he knew he was only postponing the matter. For some strange reason, showing his face to a droid had been easier than his son. And Din didn't know what that said of him as a person and as a potential father. That and many other questions will prowled the mind.

And all that without taking into account the powers of his son.

Din not only could not help him find his true family, he did not know how to be a father,let alone know how to teach him to handle his powers.

Little one could not have picked a worse choice as guardian.

And the proof of that was that I was depending on a stupid conversation heard in a bar.

His navigation system was indicating that he was approaching his destination.

"How did I end up on this damn planet?" Din asked again.

As always, it all started with the baby.

After the incident Navarro, Din and the baby had looked the loneliest and nearby planet they could find and landed to sleep for two days straight and to recover from his wounds, especially Din. Once refreshed and rested, Din repaired and used his new relationship with the Guild to find work and get credits and other things you would need for this new mission.

After having finished gathering a group of convicts, the baby and he went to get something to eat on the planet they were on. They found a small canteen in a relatively safe area of the place and stayed there to eat, the baby as always having soup. Din was thinking what he was going to do next, the best clue he had was rumors about Dagobah but it sounded like fairy tales or simple follies. But it was all he had and maybe he should swallow his doubts and investigate.

Until he heard a couple speak who were sitting near them. Talked about their vacation, getting a special gift for their daughter and more things, so common and boring that Din was surprised by how jealous he was of their monotony. But he would not have given them any more attention if he had not heard a slight mention of curious creatures with long ears and black eyes when they rose to leave, leaving him alone with the name of a planet.

_Tenn'do_.

* * *

As soon as he set foot on the surface of the island, Din knew something was wrong.

He didn't know why exactly. Maybe it was pure intuition. Maybe his paranoia was out of control. He looked closely at his surroundings, trying to find the source.

They had landed on a large island with a mountain range at whose feet lay a huge forest. Supposedly the research center was in those mountains and the city was somewhere between the foot of the mountain and the start of trees. Din had decided to land in the middle of the grove, hoping that the cover of the plants and the distance of the city would make this expedition safer. Trees and other plants, were nearby and quiet, except for the movement of the leaves caused by wind, completely oblivious to the concerns of Din.

Nothing seemed out of place. So calm and peaceful that Din surprised himself by how loud he could hear his heart beating. He didn't know why he was so nervous, he just knew there was something wrong in the air. Din hesitated bringing his hands to his blaster handle more by reflex than anything else and thought about what to do next. 

The child, protected as always in the small swing he had made with old pieces of cloth, it was starting to make noises of impatience from hiding under his cloak. He did not seem concerned about the fears and worries running through the mind of Din, but for other things. Strangely, the little boy had been anxious since they had landed, showing great impatience to go outside and now, he seemed to rush his father to start walking.

However, Din doubted if that was the right thing. In an effort to calm down, he began to remember what he knew about this place.

Nothing he had heard justified this feeling.

Din had used the meeting with Griff and Cara Navarro to collect information about Tenn'do. Griff knew enough about the place because it was quite famous. It turned out to be a place famous for being a tourist destination for many families whose attractions samples specializing in advanced technologies for children. It seemed to be a sort of giant amusement park where the youngest could make explorations in a safe environment. Apparently, all you had to do was buy an adventure package with certain specifications and the people of the planet made your fantasies come true (if possible.)

_"A trap for the rich, without a doubt_ " Din thought with condescension when he heard it and immediately lost hope of finding something useful in that place.

However, he also learned that there was eight colonized moons, with huge cities where there were facilities dedicated to design the attractions that could be seen on the main planet and perhaps it was better to go to one of those moons.The place was not only famous for its attractions but also for its technological advances and for being home to several of the smartest minds on this side of the galaxy. Probably they had a database of strange creatures if it was true that specialized in studying and Din could find something if he went to one of the cities that were close to facilities.

(In the middle of that explanation, Din had to listen to Cara's concerns about his knowledge of the world if he had never heard about the place.)

Pausing a moment to digest this information, Din noted his concern about highlighting and attracting much attention but Cara indicated sarcastically that being a famous and tourist place, they were accustomed to strangers and Din and the child could disappear into the crowd.

They could also take it as one of those tourists who come to see their fantasies come true.

"With his own costume included." She finished Cara with a mocking face that Din wanted to erase from her mouth.

The sounds of the child and the fact that he was beginning to pull his cloak, returned him to the present but still without knowing what to do. For a moment, he considered turning and coming back but the infant, seeming to read his thoughts, stirred even more and pointed impatiently to where one could see the contours of the city above the trees, relatively far away.Glanced at his little charge and his black eyes were full of tears that threatened to fall, his hands were pressing hard on the cloth and his mouth was transformed into a grimace of sadness.

For some strange reason, the baby really wanted to go to that place.

Din looked at him for a few minutes, looked back at his surroundings and when he found nothing, back to the baby.

"What the hell?" Din thought and began to walk.

However, that only increased the frantic rhythm of his heart.

For a moment, Din felt really stupid. He was a warrior, a Mandalorian, for years he had tempered his body, mind and spirit to ward off stupids fears.He was no longer the frightened child hearing the horrors of war, but a tempered soldier with millions of battles under his belt. He had seen great horrors and committed some of his own. Nothing that might exist in these trees had the power to frighten him.

Nevertheless…

However, there was something in the middle of this calm that was making his pulse jump. A particularly cold breeze blew and whispered the leaves of the trees, almost as if they were living creatures. With every step he took, he felt a look nailed to the back of his neck, as if something was following with his eyes, something sinister that felt no sympathy for him or the child.The little boy was anxious, moving in such a way that Din was afraid he would fall off his swing and hit the floor. The nervous energy radiated by his little son, only increased his anxiety. 

In an attempt to calm down, he thought of Sorgan whose trees were similar to these. He saw in his mind the smile of Omera, the hugs that Wita had given him, he thought of the laughter of the children when his small charge made something silly for attracting attention. He thought about all that and more. He even thought about the sound the krif made in their lagoons and the bird squeals when they caught one.

That made them stop dead. The boy's shriek was heard and echoed like an echo through the trees. Followed by the sound a scream that he could barely control.

He knew what was wrong with the place.

Since they had left the ship, they had not heard a single sound. There was only silence.

Complete and utter silence.

So huge that he could hear his own heart hammering in his ears.

Promptly, as a result of his years of practice, he drew his gun and aimed at the trees while protecting his creature with his other arm. Tense as he had rarely been, he waited for some invisible enemy to attack them.

But nothing happened. He waited and waited but nothing.

Din could only feel the sound of his own agitated breathing and the increasingly distressed crying of his son making gestures for him to continue. Din's intentions were more oriented towards the opposite direction.He wanted to take his son and run back to the ship, take off and forget forever that he had stepped on this place. No matter what information they could find in this place, nothing was worth the life of their son or their own.

Alive they could always find another clue, dead was the end of the trip.

Just as he was about to follow his new developed plan, a sound rumbled through the trees behind him. Din turned around as fast as he could and fired in that direction but didn't seem to have hit anything. Just for security, he fired again a couple more times. Maybe to force his enemy out of hiding or maybe to feel that he was doing something, that he was in control in this situation.

But he was so focused trying to catch this invisible enemy that he didn't realize that his son had other plans.Apparently fed up that his dad won't take him where he wanted to go, he took advantage of his distraction and escaped his grip and landed on the ground. As soon as he could stand up, he ran as quickly as his feet could give him, towards the city. Din was so focused that by the time he realized what was happening, the boy had almost disappeared from his sight.

"Ad´ika! Come back here! Ad´ika!"

Din ran after the boy before he lost track. Despite the concern that his body filled for the well-being of his son, he could not stop feeling that strange sensation that had accompanied him since the beginning of this disaster, the same that urged him to get away from that place as quickly possible.The same that was getting stronger every moment. He wanted to reach the boy before he did something he could regret but couldn't reach it. The creature seemed faster than he had shown so far and he felt ... strange.

For some strange reason his body felt heavy and clumsy, the armor weighed more with each step, in a way he had not felt for years, when he was getting used to his weight. And his mind felt asleep and cloudy. His eyes were unfocused and could see nothing beyond his nose, he could barely see the outline of the child in front of him.

The sensation seemed to increase as he approached the city and for a moment, he was afraid of losing the child and that he fell into the hands of who or what was behind this hell disguised as paradise. That feeling was what made him clench his teeth and force his body to obey his will.

Losing a foundling was not an option.

_This is the Way._

With that in mind, he was finally able to reach the boy when they reached the city limits. Tired physically and mentally, he caught his persistent son and held him up. The baby made no sign of wanting to escape, perhaps he had finally calmed down now that they were in the place where he wanted to go but he was still somewhat anxious. Din gently stroked his head to try to calm him down and calm him down a little bit.

The child took a moment to respond, his gaze lost in the distance but then he turned his head and placed his hand on the surface of his helmet, stroking the metal and looking at it with a strange concentration until he let out a small chuckle. Din felt much better hearing his son's laugh, his heart beating again at a normal level. Still laughing, the infant stopped touching him and his attention returned to the city, looking for something that something with his eyes. He seemed much calmer so Din enjoyed that little victory and looked towards the city to which he had not paid much attention in favor of the child.

His heart jumped again when he saw how death had passed, leaving his mark.

Din almost unconsciously squeezed the baby between his arms and under his helmet, his eyes widened in surprise, trying to absorb the landscape before him.

It seemed that the sinister silence that reigned in the forest, also extended to the city. 

One could not hear the typical sounds that are associated with living beings, no conversations could be heard, and the cries loaded market supply and hurried steps and the sound of the machines, the breathing exaggerated of other creatures.

Nothing.

Probably because the city was deserted.

And in ruins.

Most of the buildings were demolished, turned into remains of stone and metal. The streets were full of garbage, dust and much more destruction could be seen: burned and broken wood, ceramic remains, abandoned vehicles, pure destruction as far as the eye could see. You could even see rotten food still hanging on its hooks. In some places you could see how the forest began to take possession of the place, slowly covering the stone with branches and leaves. From where they were, they could see something that resembled a woman on the floor, half hidden among the stones. Almost as if she were asleep. Other similar silhouettes could be seen not far away.

In the distance, on a hill, a partially destroyed building stood like a kind of guardian monster.

It was a horrible contrast to the city that Dean had built in his mind. Greef had not stopped talking about the wonders of the place making the former bounty hunter imagine a lush place, full of rich stretchers and screaming children. The same type of decadent show he had seen in other cities of the New Republic.

Din had hoped to find chaos, noise and excesses. No silence and ruin.

The man would have liked to leave the same place but a perverse curiosity made him go inside to see what had happened in that place. In addition, it helped a little that the sensation he had felt in the forest had dissipated a little, feeling again that he was in control of his body and feeling his son safe in his arms gave him an anchor to be able to center his nerves. With careful steps and one of your hands on the handle of your gun, you will be in place.

It was obvious that an attack had happened.

There were craters on the ground and you could see how the destruction of the buildings had the pattern of explosions of different proportions. Din thought the attack was not recent because he couldn't smell smoke or burned meat. But he could feel the faint smell of decaying flesh that came from inside the collapsed houses and the surrounding area but it wasn't very powerful.

Which itself was strange.

Among the thousands of questions that circulated through his mind, he kept wondering where most of the bodies of the locals were. Considering the level of destruction, Din hoped to find a deployment of corpses, filling every space between the stones. He had seemed to see something resembling a corpse or two, perhaps a few more in the distance, also believed he had seen some hand or lost foot but could not be sure.

Where were the bodies? It was true that the city did not seem to be very large but there should be more bodies. Had they been evacuated? Disintegrated? Wild animals? If the government in charge of the place was cleaning the place, why wasn't this island closed? 

The official who had enabled his entry had not warned him anything, because nobody seemed to know what had happened? Probably the attack had been recent and the silence of the city had not attracted attention yet. What had happened? Many options came to mind and he didn't like any. Could he save something from so much destruction, something useful that would serve them in the future? Provisions, credits, weapons maybe? But that could be traced back to him and put him in much more trouble

Din decided to enter a house to explore. He put the baby on his swing under his cloak, trying to obstruct his vision a little, pulled out his gun and went into a random building.

The mixture of excrement smell, burned and decaying meat was very strong inside and flooded Din's nose. He checked his eyes slightly and saw what at first glance seemed to be a group of rags and cloth scraps thrown in a corner of the place but as he approached he could see that they were a couple of bodies, relatives or perhaps strangers who had taken refuge in the Same place, it was impossible to know. Their bodies presented different types of burns, some left by fire and others presented the punctiform pattern that Din had once seen in a wretch who had the bad fortune of being struck by lightning.

Their bodies did not reveal any type of injury caused by teeth or claws so wild animals had not approached this area. That the attack had extended to the forest and ended the wildlife could explain the disturbing silence from before but Din remembered not seeing signs of attacks so he did not know very well what to think and so he covered the bodies as best he could so the baby would not see and walked away.

According to what he could calculate, it seemed that the house had been abandoned for quite some time. He knelt and rummaged with his hands in the rubble in case there was something hidden between them, finding nothing particularly useful and then thoroughly checked the walls and the few rooms left standing. It didn't take long since the house in question was relatively small.

Without productive results, he left the place.

He was planning to enter another house, when Din noticed a movement from the corner of his eye. A shadow that slipped through the rubble. Din thought he saw her sneak out of a window. He turned his head and saw another shadow, smaller jump between the remains of stone and get lost in the shadows. The wind began to blow again, a little colder, and gently stirred the remains that hung around and lifted the dust from the streets and caused the pieces of abandoned metal to scratch each other with metal fingers. Din took a breath to shout a warning shout at his enemies, but the words froze in his throat.

The strange feeling was back but now it was different. Instead of a pair of eyes on his back, he could feel as if a hand was clenching his lungs, not enough to drown him but to make him uncomfortable. On his back the boy moved restlessly. Trying to demonstrate a security he did not feel, Din moved cautiously, alert, gun in hand and trying to control his breathing. Something seemed to have noticed their presence, even without seeing them. The baby let out a strange sound from his hiding place, nervous once again. Din took it as a bad sign and prepared for the attack.

The shadow arose from the darkness of one of the nearby houses and stood before them. they were small, skinny to the point that one could count their bones, their flesh was dark and scarred. The clothes that covered them were dirty scraps that barely hung from their body. They was crouched, almost on all fours like a beast. Their black eyes were fierce and their mouth showed their stained teeth.

Din let out a sound like an alarmed hiss.

It was a kid.

He didn't seem to be more than five or six years old and seemed to be the only survivor of whatever happened. And it showed that the experience had left a mark, judging by the grunts he emitted and the gestures of his hands in the form of claws. He was in a feral state and did not seem to recognize Din as another person but as a source of danger but did not seem sure he wanted to attack or not. Probably intimidated by the vision of the armor. Din himself was not sure how to handle the situation, he did not want to shoot a traumatized child but he could not lower the weapon and risk an attack that endangered the baby.

-What to do? The problems do not stop appearing.

In his chest, the pressure increased a little more.

The infant on his back let out several desperate groans, trying to escape once more and began to stretch his arms toward the strange child as if wanting to touch him or get his attention. Din feared he would scare the boy. So he decided to approach slowly and calmly, slightly lowering the gun and putting his other hand as a sign of calm. He tried to convey tranquility as he approached despite how really tense he felt. The boy seemed to understand his intentions a little because his growls lowered and he put his hands on the floor, not making any sudden movement.

Just when things seemed to have calmed down a bit, the baby let out a powerful moan that seemed to make the boy angry because his eyes narrowed angrily and he shouted a strange word with all his might. Din waited for him to throw himself at him and raised his arms waiting to receive teeth or nails or something similar but the boy stood still in his place with a haughty smile, waiting for something.

That was not long in coming.

Behind him, Din could hear the sound of small footsteps quickly approaching and the sound of sparks charging. He barely had time to dodge the blow of an apparent electric weapon but could feel the rose in a part of the arm not covered by the beskar. He could hear the landing of a body in front of him. Perhaps they had fallen into a trap and the boy was not alone; So he got up and looked back at the boy, hoping to find a comrade or maybe an adult.

Definitely not expected to find a strange creature with long ears, black eyes, long tail that let out sparks from his cheeks. The strange beast was a little bigger than the baby and was so dirty that it wasn't known what color it was. it was more than clear that he was as skinny and hurt as the creature behind him. But in his black eyes he could see an iron will.

He stood before the boy with a determination that surprised him. The beast seemed to serve as a kind of guardian of the child. This has to be one of those famous creatures he had heard and suddenly, the child's survival and condition was not so surprising. Spending so much time with the only company of a beast could confuse the head of a small child. Din wanted to do something, some gesture to indicate that he didn't want to attack but the beast didn't give him time. His cheeks let out a yellow glow and Din could hear the distinctive sound of electricity charging. The strange monster launched a direct electric attack on him, resembling lightning. 

Din could dodge it only because the attack took a while to load and didn't seem to be very powerful. Mentally cursing, he grabbed the boy and left him on the floor (which the little boy didn't like), raised his gun and fired. However, the creature turned out to be faster than expected and dodged the shot. With surprising agility he moved among the remains, avoiding each of his shots. You could tell he was used to moving high speed and knew the terrain well. More than a beast designed to be a pet, the creature was made for combat. At one point he tried to reload his attack but seemed to have run out of electricity. Probably his wounds and condition was affecting his attacks and the only thing that seemed to keep him standing was his willingness to defend the child.

Something Din could understand and admire.

Especially the latter because it turned out to be much more cunning than it seemed to be. Using his speed and the terrain in his favor, the creature constantly moved making it a difficult target and ramming it with surprising force every time he discovered a blind spot. Luckily his armor absorbed most of those punches. The creature seemed to realize that simple brute force was not going to be able to harm him so that in his next onslaught he took a turn in the air and hit him with his tail full of electricity. Din, surprised could not dodge and received the blow on the shoulder feeling the same as he had felt when those damn jabas had electrocuted him. While he was recovering from one, the beast gave him another one, this time in the lower part of his back, leaving him on his knees with his body half stunned.

However, the strategy had also caused damage to his opponent because the strange beast was having a hard time breathing. Din took the opportunity to look for his son with his eyes that, fortunately, had remained in the place that had left him with his eyes glued on the boy with a small hand extended towards him. The aforementioned had his eyes glued to his guardian and looked visibly worried about him. Obviously the little boy was not used to seeing him face an opponent he could not beat.

This was the perfect time to act.

He deliberately lit his flamethrower and threw the flames at the creature waiting for him to dodge. Watching him move so much had given Din an idea of his movement patterns and he was almost certain he could predict where the beast was going to jump. Luckily, he had guessed correctly and without wasting time he threw his hook catching the little monster. As soon as he had it secured, he pulled the cable and slammed the beast against a piece of wall. The little monster received all the force of the blow and could not get back up, you could see how he struggled to remain conscious, moaning in pain and looking at the boy with eyes full of worry. Din fel hurt for what he had to do but could not allow that beast to hurt his son.

So he approached him with a blaster in hand, with all the intention of shooting. He could hear the cries of horror of the child, mixed with the baby's groans, but he had to harden his heart. The beast looked at him with tired eyes, still trying to stand up to continue the fight. Din had known men who had much less courage than this beast, and in honor of his spirit he did not intend to make him suffer more than necessary. He pulled the trigger but could not shoot. Not because of a sudden feeling of pity but because he had been thrown hard against one of the walls by an extraordinary and invisible force.

And strangely familiar.

When he recovered from the blow he could see how the boy was in front of his guardian, with his hands extended and tears falling from his eyes. It seemed that this little boy also had the same ability as his son. However, he didn't remember the baby's eyes turning yellow when he used his power. Nor that his beloved son had the same grimace of blind rage that the boy had. Before he could continue to reflect on what he was seeing, he felt how his body was raised in the air and how his lungs and neck were crushed by an invisible hand.

Another thing he was familiar with.

He tried to speak but no words seemed to come out of his mouth. The boy's face had transformed from a mask of fury to a grimace of sinister pleasure. He had yellow eyes with a red light and a hand raised in the air making the same gesture he had seen the baby do a few days ago. The other was languid at his side and perhaps his mind was hallucinating by the lack of oxygen but he seemed to see sparks shining on those fingers. Din could feel life escaping from his body, his vision was obscured by tears, he could hear moans distantly but he didn't know who they belonged to.

It was a sweet irony to survive countless battles to end up being the victim of a child with strange powers.

His mind was filling with thoughts of regret and love for his ad'ika when he heard a loud shriek and Din fell to the floor, free and alive. His lungs burned a little when he felt the air coming in again but it was a very sweet pain. Din didn't have time to contemplate that he had been near death again when the screech sounded again.

The baby who had seen everything that had happened had not been willing to let his guardian die that way and had done his mission to save him again. Or that was what Din thought when he saw the small figure of his son, directly in front of the boy screaming to get his attention with his outstretched hand. Din could only see his back but he supposed he had his eyes closed, using the same strange power, saving him once with his strange powers. One part of him was grateful for that, however, another part was furious that he couldn't protect his son and depend on him that way.

The man feared what the strange child could do to his son but he only looked at him in amazement, as if he could not believe that there was another like him. Such emotion made the yellow of his eyes soften until almost disappear. Almost unconsciously, he approached until both infants' hands touched and the boy closed his eyes as well. Din approached with difficulty, to where the children were having what seemed to be a kind of mental conversation, not knowing very well what to expect. But none of them seemed to notice when Din's figure stood aside, looking at them with curiosity and concern.

They seemed to be in their own world.

A sound at his side let him know that the strange creature had done the same and was watching the exchange with the same strangeness as him. The poor animal had used the little energy he had left to get there and only the effort of breathing seemed to cause him great effort. Having it so close he could examine it and notice things that he had not noticed before.

Barely larger than the baby, he was much thinner and battered than he had supposed. The dirty fur was macerated with wounds, some deep and thick like claws, others thinner and more superficial that spoke of a whip that had tasted the taste of his skin. The boy shared some of those wounds, with burn marks but not his skin was not as marked as that of his guardian. It was likely to assume that the beast had protected the child in the attack and then, but what exactly? What really lived in this island? Din, finally, could hear slight noises in the forest, as if life were waking up little by little. Where had they been until now and why did they return? The beast seemed to have noticed that, from time to time he looked apprehensively at his surroundings and his ears moved incessantly And that was not all, Din had seen enough wounds in his life to be able to recognize that some of them were much older . Had they happened during the attack? Or before? What kind of life had these two led? Why was a wild creature so determined to protect a simple child?

Was Din really feeling empathy for a wild animal?

The beast turned its gaze to him and could swear he was asking something with his eyes. Probably if he was aware of what was going on between the two infants.

Din could only shrug.

"You're asking the wrong person, buddy" he said feeling stupid for talking to the animal that way.

However, he seemed to understand him and nodded as if nodding. Din made a mental note of his intelligence level and said nothing more.

The two children continued for a few more seconds until, suddenly, the boy put his hands to his chest in a gesture of pain and fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. The creature, alarmed, ran to his side, and began using his little legs and his head to move the little boy who let out a groan of pain but did not wake up. Din feared that the baby would have done something to him unintentionally, but he had also collapsed on the floor, tired but conscious and joined the beast's attempts to wake the child. Din, on the other hand, stood still in fear of the worst. In less than a few seconds two pairs of tear-stained black eyes looked at him, with the plea that he will help the child written on them.

"I really don't know what you expect me to do," he said aloud. "I don't know anything about these things, damn it."

The man sighed knowing that he had no choice and approached with all the intention of grabbing the boy to take him to the ship and see what they could do for him there.

However, as having proof that a superior force hated him, Din heard a powerful squawking nearby and stopped to see what it was.

It seemed that the island still had one last surprise for Din and his group.

Dark brown eyes with white pupils on sharp spikes like steel. Claws equally sharp. Huge bodies loaded with heavy feathers red black and gray. Rough and brown plumage covering their heads. They were perched on the stones and the remains of roofs that were left in place. The eyes looked at them with a mixture of hunger and hate. They didn't let out a sound, they stood like a group of colorful statues.

The squawk came from the sky.

Din cursed having left his rifle in the ship.

Vulture neck and wide and powerful wings, long beak, pointed and pink, narrow eyes. Flying in circles with a watchful and vigilant look. The biggest bird Dean had seen in his life. It flew relatively low.

He was clearly the leader.

And even without special powers, he could feel the thirst for blood that the damn bird emanated every time his eyes fell on the boy who was still unconscious on the floor. And judging by how his furry guardian showed his teeth every time the bird squawked menacingly, the hatred was mutual. Din did not know where these birds had appeared or why they had decided to appear at this time. He just wanted to leave this island of demonized animals and leave behind what had been one of his worst ideas in a long list of questionable decisions.

His ad'ika began to tremble and sob from fear for the fearsome birds but when he approached to take him in his arms, he clung to the boy's rags, clearly not wanting to leave without him. Without leaving him many options, he grabbed the two infants, putting his son in his hiding place behind his cloak and holding the child in his arms. For a moment, he believed that the boy's guardian beast was going to make him some kind of threat but he was much more focused on the birds.

Din evaluated his options, with the child in his arms he could not shoot well and both magical children were too tired to save them with their "hand tricks." The hairy creature was too hurt and tired to keep fighting. However, that did not mean he was willing to give up. He was standing in front of them with the same determination that Din could recognize without problems, he had felt something similar a few weeks ago in a similar situation where the only thing that filled his mind was the idea of being able to get his death as a warrior while getting A few extra minutes for the group.

Din suspected that the creature planned to do something similar. A painful flashback came to mind, about another being willing to be destroyed in order to save a precious burden. The Mandalorian still felt that as a personal failure and was not sure he wanted to see another creature immolate himself just so that he (and the children) were safe.

"Don't destroy yourself yet, we need you!" he shouted without realizing it, earning a curious look from the creature, Din cleared his throat "I mean, don't do anything stupid. I have a plan. We just need to distract them, is there a safe place?"

The beast looked at him as if he were crazy, which Din could understand, he was not very sure of his healing at this point. However, the rubbing of the grenade at the tips of his fingers gave him some hope. The animal did not seem very convinced but he had no other choice. Din arranged the child in his arms and grabbed the grenade. The beast did not know very well what he was doing but he seemed to understand that it was something dangerous for which he turned around and jumped on his shoulder.

Begging for this to work, Din threw the grenade.

  
  
  
  
  


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End file.
